“Bully” Phillip Glover Goes Ballistic at School Board Meetings !!!– Video “doctored” !!?? Report and commentary by Robert A. Williams

The Office of Sheriff of Cleveland County is the highest elected office in the county. Political chatter is that retired Highway Patrolman Phillip Glover ran for the School Board to get some political experience before running for his goal of Sheriff at the first opportunity when current Sheriff Alan Norman decides to retire. Now School Board Chairman Phillip Glover’s experience on the School Board is mostly bad experience with citizens complaints coming in from all sides. Somebody forgot to tell Glover that he had to have a shred of common sense, keep CCS on the right track, to control his bad temper, be able to properly manage taxpayer’s money and show some respect for citizens. All of which Glover has completely failed to do. Read on!!!

All of Glover’s major failures can be easily shown in just the past two meetings. The January 23, 2017 and February 13, 2017 meetings.

Glover and the rest of the Board completely missed the mark with selecting an architect for the auditoriums at Burns and Crest High Schools. They selected the Holland and Hamrick Architects for this project when this firm has made major mistakes in recent projects. Since we are talking auditoriums now, ask yourself what parameters are important for auditoriums? The number one parameter for a multipurpose auditorium is acoustics, where the goal is to design an auditorium that would have excellent acoustics for a variety of purposes. Specifically orchestra, drama, lectures and presentations.

Glover and his board member buddies selected Holland and Hamrick while in the very auditorium in the old Shelby High School that Holland and Hamrick just renovated at a very high cost. Everytime the HVAC kicks in the auditorium acoustics go right down the toilet. Yet Glover and company would pawn this kind of poor workmanship off at Burns and Crest High Schools while patting themselves on the back. Shelby Mayor Stan Anthony, himself an award winning architect who had bid on this work, also in attendance, couldn’t believe Glover and his cronies awarded the auditorium project to the same folks who had screwed CCS and others so many times before. Mayor Anthony left the meeting in obvious disgust with what had just happened.

Later in the January 23, 2017 meeting there were several agenda items about the new North Shelby School Project that will be constructed on the James Love Elementary School property. Glover and his cronies never have discussions or ask questions as they obviously don’t know anything about school construction and they refuse to take heed from those that do know a lot about commercial construction,

In these items, CCS Superintendent Stephen Fisher again falsely stated that the North Shelby School students would have “educational opportunities” by such close proximity to the James Love School. Fisher never mentions that the doors between James Love and North Shelby will be normally locked. Fisher never-never mentions that James Love School has scored failing marks for several years and the State is about to take over James Love. Of course Fisher never admits that hooking North Shelby School to James Love School will allow James Love to be placed in a different category, saving CCS the embarrassment of actually being taken over by the State. Oh no!! CCS and Glover don’t want the beans spilled about that. Especially since Glover is up for election this year and the Sheriff’s race will be later (Hopefully never for Glover). And, so much for the myth that Glover, Fisher and the Board cronies give a whit about the students at North Shelby or Burns or Crest.

There is more.

Board member Danny Blanton had received an email from a knowledgeable person regarding the soil conditions on the James Love School property that were unacceptable for construction. Blanton had sent it to Glover and cronies. Necessary soil remediation at James Love was estimated to cost plenty enough that the new North Shelby School Project should have never even been considered for the James Love School location. But Glover being Glover and Glover’s cronies being Glover’s cronies, they just blew it off. Like so what? Enough Money will fix any problem and the taxpayers are too stupid to ever know or even care!!

Of course I was sitting there hearing all of that and remembering that I had once sent an email to Glover and his cronies, Fisher, etc. advising them that the specifications for the North Shelby School Project, drawn up by Holland and Hamrick had specified the purchase of obsolete HVAC equipment that had been banned by the Federal EPA. Glover, et al, just blew that off too. So, I had decided not to even look at any more of the construction documents until construction actually started. Then tell the CCS nitwits “I told you so.” Also to tell the 50,000 voters that stayed home during the 2015 School Board Election “I told you so too!!”

It was near the end of the meeting and little did I know the real action was just about to begin.

If you watch the video of the January 23, 2017 school board meeting right at the end, you will see Board Member Danny Blanton get up just a few seconds before Glover gaveled the meeting to adjournment to catch somebody before they got out the back door. Then the video ends abruptly. The meeting was over but the action was just beginning.

While the other Board members were still in the process of getting up to go, Robert Queen-a State Registered and Licensed Civil Engineer and apparently the person who had sent the email about the problems with the new North Shelby School building foundation, approached the stage. Robert Queen told the school board basically that they were always ignoring good information and from now on you (CCS) are on your on. Then Mr. Queen turned around and left. As for myself, when Mr. Queen said what he said, I spoke up and said “AMEN!!!”

Then I immediately went to the back of the room to the video equipment area to see whether or not the cameras had caught that last comment from Mr. Queen. In the past the videos sometimes went over for a few moments. The video equipment operator, apparently knowing who signs his paycheck and also knowing that what Mr. Queen had said was embarrassing for those who sign his paychecks said the video was shut down right when the gavel went down to close the meeting.

While talking to the video equipment operator, I noticed the school board members-minus Danny Blanton and minus Kathy Falls (who was absent for the meeting) and Superintendent Fisher had not left the stage, but had migrated over to the West side and were in deep discussion. This was strange and it was also illegal. The meeting was over, NC Law requires any such gathering of a majority of school board members to do their business in open session with minutes being taken. I watched a bit, then I remembered that any such of a meeting was also open to the public.

So, I walked back up front to hear what they were talking about. Knowing that I had the legal right to hear what they were talking about.

The huddle of school board members must of also known that I intended to hear what they were talking about because they broke up before I got close enough to hear and headed across the stage for the side Exit. I headed them off and reminded them that their little get together like that violated NC Open Meeting Laws.

Phillip Glover blew his gasket. Glover said that I couldn’t leave through that Exit. I thought the whole “Exit” thing was a hoot. I said that not only could I use that Exit, I was going to use that Exit. Glover then called the Shelby Police Officer who attends school board meetings over and told the Officer to “Escort Mr. Williams out the other Exit.” I said, un-intimidated by the likes of “Bully” Phillip Glover, that “I was going out this exit so arrest me now if you have to.”

Of course I had just as much right to go out that exit as Bully Glover, Fisher and the other board members had. The look on the Police Officer’s face indicated to me that he didn’t want to be in the middle of any of this. The Officer is a good guy and besides, the only ones going out that door were Bully and his cronies. If I went out that door by myself, no telling what kind of lies Bully and his cronies would make up. So, I decided that I should stick with the Police Officer for MY protection as he was the only witness I would trust to testify that I had done nothing wrong.

Read On Folks. This sad story continues!!!

The School Board meeting on February 13, 2017 starts off bad as no Christian Pastor had signed up for the Invocation. Danny Blanton, who was THE major force on the School Board supporting Prayer even made the comment that he wished the Shelby Star Reporter would write an article reminding Preachers to come out and Pray for the School Board. I would remind Christian Pastors that this is a new year and those that Delivered Prayers last year can now sign up for this years school board meeting Invocations.

The “Citizens Recognition” portion of the agenda came up early in the meeting. Citizens came up one after another with serious complaints about CCS. One woman stated her son had been punched, stabbed, hit in the head with a rock and a variety of bullying at school and CCS was punishing her son. Another parent stated a coach was trying to make his son quit the team because he had reported something wrong. Mr. Billy Scruggs again spoke about the CCS Board, especially Bully Glover and Jo Boggs, telling lies about why CCS school busses quit coming down his road to drop off his grandson, after coming down his road for over thirty years to pick up and drop off CCS students. Another lady, most likely a plant by CCS, spoke about how great it was that the new North Shelby School would be located at the failing James Love School because of the educational opportunities. Folks, watch the CCS video.

And one other citizen spoke. Mr. Robert Queen, a State Registered Professional Civil Engineer specializing in building foundations stated that he wanted to clarify some items from an email he had provided to the CCS Board. Mr. Queen then described how the budget figures for the North Shelby School project had escalated from $10 million to $13.5 million without any public discussion from the CCS Board. That he had discovered even bigger problems with the foundation requirements for the new North Shelby School Project and thought the CCS Board ought to be made aware of it. Especially since it involved 105,000 cubic yards (7,500 big truckloads) of dirt that will have to be moved plus a large number of piers (sometimes called “pilings” that have to be “pile-driven” into the soil), all of which will add $Millions more to the construction costs of the North Shelby School Project. Mr. Queen went into inspection costs and stated inspectors should only be paid for the inspections they do, not by a percentage of total costs. Mr. Queen started his conclusion by stating that the CCS Board needed to be asking more questions. That the CCS Board had not been told everything and were not asking enough questions to get to the “whole truth” of the matter in order to be responsible to the taxpayers of Cleveland County. Mr. Queen reminded the CCS Board that they had never discussed in open session the so called “educational opportunities” of locating the North Shelby School at the James Love site and how that justified the additional costs. Mr. Queen told the CCS Board that they probably were not told the truth about the soil conditions at the construction site (although Mr. Queen had himself previously told the CCS Board about substandard soil conditions. Mr. Queen apparently was talking about the CCS Board not being told by their own people-apparently incompetent people or people who have been told to keep their mouths shut about problems, which represents a much deeper problem). Mr. Queen continued by saying the CCS Board probably were not told about unfair payments of somebody else’s property taxes on property CCS bought (in addition to paying over market value for the property), the CCS Board hasn’t been told the capacity of the new North Shelby School (a reminder of what the CCS Board did with the new Shelby Middle School-SMS was built for 800 students yet only 400 actually attend), then Mr. Queen stated the CCS Board probably had not been told they had already spent $1.1 Million on the new North Shelby School project before they had even broken ground.”

At this point Bully Phillip Glove goes ballistic again. As Mr. Queen had started his conclusion with “North Shelby Students deserve better than this,” Bully Glover, obviously angry, calls out “Mr. Queen your time is up.” Mr. Queen keeps on reading his last few words with Bully shouting that his time was up, you are out of order and pounding his gavel.

I was sitting up front and paying full attention to all of this. What I saw and heard was Bully’s loud voice and Bully’s loud banging that obscured Mr. Queens last few words. Bully appeared red faced and mad. When I requested this clip of the CCS video be copied for this article and looked at it myself, I immediately determined something was wrong with the video. It appeared to me the video was edited to lower the volume of Bully Glover’s outburst and much of Bully’s gavel banging was edited out.

I was not surprised as Bully is up for election and he most likely would not want such an outburst to be made public. So, I went to the end of the video to see how that was captured. In real life there was a closed session at the end of the meeting and then the CCS Board comes back into session to announce if any actions were taken and to close the meeting. None of that is in the final CCS video that is on the Official CCS Website.

Mr. Queen may be right about the CCS Board not being told about what is going on. In my opinion the CCS Board does not want to know what is going on so they can deny knowing about all these problems. And when people like me, Mr. Queen, Danny Blanton, Billy Scruggs and others bring up problems at CCS, Bully and his cronies all get mad as hornets and don’t want to talk about them. Bully and his cronies can be mad at me all they want. I report on what I see and what I hear. If Bully and his cronies want good reports from me, all they have to do is act like they have good sense, do the right things and quit wasting taxpayer money hand over fist.

Later in the meeting there was an agenda item for the CCS Board to actually approve the building of a new North Shelby School on the James Love School location. Despite all the good information Mr. Robert Queen had given them, despite all the good information I had previously and continuously given them, despite Board Member Danny Blanton’s questions about the ever escalating price and especially despite the fact the Cleveland County Commissioners have already applied for a loan for this school project boondoggle, putting up the County Health Department as a “Pawnshop” loan collateral for the school funding, the CCS Board approved the project as is. And they thought they were doing something great. Bully even broke out clapping about what a good job he and his cronies had done.

Like Forest Gump’s mama once said, “Fools are what Fools do !!”

Folks, this article has gotten too long. Go watch the full CCS video, edited as it is. See for yourself what Bully and his cronies actually do and what their priorities are.

Remember 2017 is a School Board Election Year and Bully is up for election. This would be a good year to run Bully Glover out of elected office. Bully has already risen to his level of incompetence. There are others who can and will provide better leadership on the CCS Board than Bully and his cronies. We will provide recommendations when those better candidates officially come forward. All you have to do is vote for the best candidates for the job on Election Day.

Also, so far Kevin Whisnant from Fallston and present School Board member Danny Blanton have made their intentions known to me that they will run for the School Board in 2017. Kevin and Danny can, I believe, work together to make CCS a much better place. Now we need two more good candidates to run for this office. I suspect one other good candidate will be Robert Queen, but Mr. Queen hasn’t told me of his intentions. Also, another potential candidate from the Sheriff’s Office may run for the School Board. If that candidate is who I have been told he is, he will make an excellent school board member.

Of course you have to expect Bully Glover and his cronies will run for election and try to include someone to remove Danny Blanton from the School Board. Voters will have to watch out for that.

Stay Tuned!!!